Obiettivo Tricolore - the great relay

The practice of sport teaches that everyone has their own physical limit and that the commitment is to train to overcome it. This conviction animates the will of steel of Alex Zanardi, who in 2020, in full lockdown, imagines “Obiettivo tricolore”. A crossing in stages throughout Italy, from the mountains to Finisterrae, for parathletes on handbikes and Olympic wheelchairs, who pass the baton to the finish.

This third edition is upside down. It starts from Santa Maria di Leuca and, after 31 stages along the Adriatic ridge, ends on June 26 in Cortina d’Ampezzo, home to the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games with Milan.

In the Lecce stage, the athletes reach Piazza Sant’Oronzo around 6.30 pm after a 75-kilometer course. Paracyclist Samantha Demontis (42-year-old from Francavilla Fontana, former dancer of the Teatro La Scala in Milan and now a dance teacher, suffering from multiple sclerosis) and the hemiplegic cyclist cat. C5 Eleonora Mele (also 42 years old, originally from Busto Arsizio, on the podium in the World Cup this year) are the first of the 65 relay runners, who run for over 2000 kilometers, proving that physical and mental disabilities are not a limit , but a different life opportunity and above all that it is forbidden to give up in the face of difficulties.

The two athletes escorted to the square by cyclists from the "Cycling & Friend Sannicola" association, the mayor of Lecce Carlo Salvemini, the sports councilor Paolo Foresio, the provincial delegate Coni Luigi Renis and the local police.

The relay restarts on Monday 6 at 9 from Piazza Sant’Oronzo in the direction of Monopoli, where the arrival is scheduled for 2 pm. The second stage is one of the longest: a good 116 kilometers to tackle for Pierluigi Maggio. The 32-year-old originally from Muro Leccese, amputated in his right leg since the age of 17, competes in cycling, triathlon and athletics, where he graduated as the Italian champion of the 1,500 and 5000 meters in the T64 category.